Our midwifery panel plays a hugely important role in giving us the straight-talking, high-level advice we need to make decisions that affect midwives and mothers right across the UK.
Established in November 2015, the panel meets four times a year and their discussions, debates and decisions are reported to our Council.
All of this work means that the voice of midwifery has a direct impact on the decisions we make.
Read the Midwifery Panel terms of reference to find out more about their purpose.
Previous meetings
- 11 October 2021 - summary notes
- 3 June 2021 - summary notes
- 8 February 2021 - summary notes
- 28 October 2020 - summary notes
- 25 June 2019 - summary notes
- 21 February 2019 - summary notes and minutes
- 22 October 2018 - summary notes and minutes.
Meet the members of the panel
The panel is made up of the Chief Nursing Officers from the four countries of the UK, representatives from our Council, the Royal College of Midwives and other leading midwifery figures.
Dr Anna van der Gaag CBE - Midwifery Panel Chair
Dr Jacqueline Dunkley-Bent OBE - Chief Midwifery Officer, NHS England
Ruth May - Chief Nursing Officer for England
Sue Tranka - Chief Nursing Officer for Wales
Professor Alex McMahon - Chief Nursing Officer for Scotland
Linda Kelly - Interim Chief Nursing Officer Northern Ireland.
Gill Walton - Chief Executive, Royal College of Midwives
Professor Mary Renfrew FRSE - University of Dundee
Cath Broderick - Lay member
Professor Janice Sigsworth - Director of Nursing at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust
Leigh Kendall FRSA - Maternity campaigner and communications expert
Nicky Clark - Chair of Lead Midwife for Education Strategic Reference Group
Sascha Wells-Munro OBE - Deputy Chief Midwifery Officer, NHS England
Karen Jewell - Nursing Officer for Maternity and Early Years, Office of the CNO Wales
Jacqui Williams MA, BSc(Hons), RM ADM, Dip AppSS - Senior Midwifery Education Advisor, Nursing and Midwifery Council
Verena Wallace MBE - Senior Midwifery Adviser (Policy), Nursing and Midwifery Council
Professor Gwendolen Bradshaw - Emeritus Professor, University of Bradford
Dr Janet Hirst - Head of the School of Healthcare, University of Leeds
Sally Ashton-May - Lead Midwife, Health Education England, East of England and National Team
Dr Dale Spence - Midwifery Advisor to the Department of Health, Northern Ireland
Wendy Olayiwola, BEM, FRSA MSc Public Health, BA (Hons), RN, BSc (Hons), RM, ILM - National Maternity Lead for Equality NHS England and NHS Improvement. Professional Midwifery Advocate in a large NHS trust.
Caitlin Wilson - Chair for the Royal College of Midwives Consultant Midwife Network
Nina Khazaezadeh - Deputy Regional Chief Midwife for London, NHS England